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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29331027">I Pity the Death Eaters</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/This_killed_me_126_times/pseuds/This_killed_me_126_times'>This_killed_me_126_times</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Songs of Expression [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Betrayal, F/M, M/M, War, fight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:20:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,628</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29331027</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/This_killed_me_126_times/pseuds/This_killed_me_126_times</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A different way that everyone could find out that Peter betrayed them (that doesn't involve James and Lily dying and Sirius going to Azkaban). Based off of the song "I Pity the Death Eaters" by the Whomping Willows.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Songs of Expression [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2125461</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Devastating News</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>James practically ran down the corridor towards the slowly opening front door. Kingsley staggered inside, holding his side, barely managing to shut the door behind him. He grabbed onto James, who put his arm around him.<br/>“I take it you got my patronus?” he asked haltingly, trying to ignore the pain he was in.<br/>“Yeah,” panted James, taking most of Kingsley’s weight, “we got your patronus. Why in the name of merlin’s saggy ball sack did you decide to get so close to You Know Who? Dumbles gave you specific instructions to keep your distance.”<br/>Kingsley gave a pained chuckle, “I saw an opportunity to get some intel and I took it,” he shrugged, wincing at the movement, “guess it didn’t work out so brilliantly for me.”<br/>“You think?” asked James, his voice reaching a pitch that he wasn’t proud of, but, given Kingsley’s state, he figured it was justified, “I’ll go and get Lily, she’s the best healer we have here at the moment. She’ll get you patched up. Will you be okay here for a few minutes?”<br/>Kingsley waved his hand as James lowered him gently to the floor, “I’ll be fine. Go.”<br/>James gave him a final, worried, glance over before hurrying to go and find Lily.</p>
<p>He found her in the kitchen, getting the evening meal ready along with a few others. She looked up with concern as soon as James rushed in, panting.<br/>“What is it?” she asked, her face full of concern.<br/>James pointed down the corridor, “Kingsley is back,” he said, “he’s wounded, and I need your help with the healing charms. You’re much better at them than I am.”<br/>Lily nodded, grabbed her wand and, instructing Molly to keep an eye on Harry (who was happily making a mess with some pastry on the floor) hurried after James to where Kingsley was sitting.</p>
<p>She carefully and efficiently patched him up, muttering the long, lyrical, charms under her breath, between brief lectures on how ‘he should have been careful’ and ‘we can’t afford to take chances’. Kingsley rolled his eyes at James, who chuckled, admiring the way his wife managed to heal and lecture at the same time.<br/>When Kingsley was sufficiently healed she sat back and took a deep breath.<br/>“You’re lucky that wasn’t worse.”<br/>“I know,” Kingsley nodded, “but I did at least learn that they’re going to be attacking tomorrow at noon.”<br/>James grabbed Lily’s hand.<br/>“The entire army?” asked James quietly, as though You Know Who was listening.<br/>Kingsley nodded gravely.<br/>Lily stood up, pulling her hand out of James’s, as though she couldn’t bear to be reminded of what she stood to lose, “we’d better start preparing ourselves then,” she said briskly, trying to cover up the terror she felt, not so much for her, but for her friends, her husband, and her son.<br/>James stood up and put a comforting arm around her, “you tell the others; I’ll go and find Sirius and Remus. I’m fairly certain I know what they’re doing and I don’t want to subject your eyes to that,” he tried to joke, but it fell rather flat, Lily barely managing to muster a watery smile.<br/>He kissed her gently and said, “if I thought you would, I’d tell you to take Harry and go. But this is bigger than all of us; we decided long ago that it was a cause we would die for,” he kissed her again, “go and prepare, I’ll see you later.”</p>
<p>A few minutes later, James cautiously pushed open the door to Sirius and Remus’s bedroom, squinting through half-closed eyes.<br/>“I’m coming in, so make yourselves decent!” he yelled.<br/>There was an answering rustle of duvets and clothes before Remus replied, “we’re decent.”<br/>James entered, closing the door behind him and opening his eyes suspiciously. When he saw they were, in fact, mostly decent, he flopped down on a nearby chair.<br/>“I thought you said you were decent, Padfoot.” he said wearily.<br/>“Technically Moony said that we were decent. And I’ve got trousers on, haven’t I?” Sirius replied indignantly.<br/>“I still don’t think hotpants count as decent.”<br/>Sirius waved a hand dismissively, “you shared a dorm with us for seven years, you’ve seen far worse than this. Besides, they were the closest thing I had.”<br/>“Merlin forbid you had to walk all the way over to the wardrobe.”<br/>“Prongs, I spent long enough in the closet, and I have no particular desire to be reminded of it. I have a wardrobe-phobia.”<br/>Remus saw that this wasn’t going to end anytime soon and quickly interrupted, saying, “what did you want, Prongs?”<br/>James sighed, thoughts of hotpants and wardrobe-phobias dramatically overshadowed by Kingsley’s news.<br/>“They’re going to attack tomorrow. Noon. Kingsley found out.”<br/>“All of them?” asked Remus quietly.<br/>“All of them,” James confirmed.<br/>They sat in silence for several minutes, the tension crackling through the air. Sirius couldn’t help drawing Remus closer to him. None of them wanted to imagine the devastation it would cause, or how many noble lives would be lost.<br/>There was a tentative knock on the door, making them all jump.<br/>Lily slipped into the room and shut the door behind her.<br/>James immediately stood up and went to her side, taking her hand in his.<br/>“How is everyone?” he asked.<br/>“Not great,” Lily tried to force a smile, “they all know it won’t end well tomorrow. They need a morale boost.”<br/>James nodded slowly, Lily could practically see the mischievous cogs turning in his brain, which, she knew from experience, was always a cause for concern.<br/>“I think I may be able to help with that…” he said.<br/>Lily looked at him warily, “so are you not coming up to eat?” she felt like she really didn’t want to know what James was plotting. She had enough to deal with as it was.<br/>“No, we’ve got work to do, but if you could bring us something down, we’d really appreciate it. Especially if Molly is cooking.”<br/>Lily nodded and gave him a quick kiss, “I love you.”<br/>“I love you too. So so much.”<br/>Lily left, leaving James staring after her for a moment, blinking away the tears that formed in his eyes.<br/>“So,” prompted Sirius, “what’s the plan, Prongs?”<br/>James turned around with a grin, “simple, we sing them a song.”<br/>Sirius and Remus stared at him, dumbfounded.<br/>“Don’t tell me that singing doesn’t lift your spirits. Come on! It’s the perfect act of defiance, and it might be just what we need.”<br/>“I think that this idea is at least 93 percent awful,” said Sirius, “but if we’re all going to die tomorrow anyway, then we might as well make it memorable. Who knows? Maybe we’ll confuse the evil out of You Know Who.”<br/>Remus put his head in his hands.<br/>“Moony?” asked James, cautiously, “you in?”<br/>“Fine,” came the muffled voice, “but only because I’m too tired to fight you and the death eaters, but, know that I in no way think this is a good idea.”<br/>James put his arms around his two friends, “this is going to have to be epic!”</p>
<p>Two hours of hard work and questionable composition later, there was a knock at the door. It was Lily again. In one hand she had a tray of food, and in the other, she was carrying Harry.<br/>“I’m sorry it took me so long to bring you food. We had a meeting to plan tomorrow’s defence, and it completely slipped my mind.”<br/>“It’s fine, we’ve been working anyway,” said James, standing up and taking the tray from her, “should we have been there?”<br/>She shook her head, “it’s fine, you can catch up with it tomorrow. I told the others you were doing important work down here.”<br/>“Do you know where Pete is?” asked Sirius, interrupting them.<br/>Lily smiled at him, “I think he’s on an errand for Dumbledore, but as far as I know, he should be back tomorrow.”<br/>Sirius nodded thoughtfully, “thanks, Lily.”<br/>James carefully lifted Harry out of her arms, “you look exhausted,” he said, putting his hand on her face, “I’ll look after Harry. Go and get some rest.”<br/>She nodded wearily, leaning her head into his touch, “are you coming to bed later, or will you stay down here?”<br/>“We’re almost done, so I’ll come up soon. I’ll try not to wake you, and I’ll put Harry to bed.”<br/>He kissed her gently, “goodnight, love.”<br/>“Goodnight,” she replied, before heading out of the room.<br/>They all stared at the door for a while, unable to stop themselves from thinking about how different the next night would be. Or if any of them would be alive to see the next night.<br/>Eventually, James broke the silence, “come on lads, we’ve practically finished it. I don’t think there’s anything more we could do tonight.”<br/>“You should go and be with Lily,” said Remus softly, knowing that it could be the last night they would have together.<br/>“Yeah,” said James, “I’ll go and put Harry to bed first. See you tomorrow.”</p>
<p>Once James had left, Sirius stood up and walked over to the window where Remus was standing.<br/>“We should get some sleep,” he said.<br/>Remus laughed humourlessly, “you think I could sleep, knowing the horrors that are going to be unleashed tomorrow?”<br/>“At least try and rest. The full moon was barely two days ago and you’re still recovering. Maybe you shouldn’t fight. Everyone would understand.”<br/>“And leave all of you to die? I couldn’t do that to my friends and there’s no way I’m letting you lose in a battle without my supervision.” He sighed, “besides, you need every person you can get, especially one with werewolf strength.”<br/>Sirius put his arms around Remus’s waist, and lay his head on his shoulder, “of course I don’t want to fight without you, Moony, but I honestly don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.”<br/>“You think I don’t feel the same?”<br/>Remus turned round in Sirius’s arms and kissed him slowly, “you’re right. We should get some sleep.”</p>
<p>James walked though the house as quietly as he could, determined not to wake anyone up. He didn’t think he’d be all that popular if he started crashing around the house hours before a battle. Harry had fallen asleep in his arms, so all he had to do was lay him gently in his crib before heading across the hallway into his and Lily’s room.<br/>Lily was asleep when he entered, her red hair in stark contrast to the white pillow. He gazed at her for a moment; she looked so peaceful when she was asleep, as though all of her pain melted away. James knew that there would be a lot more pain before tomorrow was out, and he wished that he could protect her and Harry, but he knew that there was no escape. Not that Lily would ever leave him or run from this fight. She was stubborn like that. He quickly slipped into his pyjamas and climbed into bed, kissing Lily on the forehead. She stirred and blinked her eyes open.<br/>“Sorry love,” he said, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”<br/>Lily shook her head, still half-asleep, “I don’t mind…” she said, already dropping back into sleep.<br/>James put his arms around her and tried to fall asleep, treasuring what could well be their last peaceful hours together.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Battle and Betrayal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The bits in double """" are directly lifted from the song "I Pity the Death Eaters" by The Whomping Willows</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next morning, everyone was up at dawn. They sat around the breakfast table looking tired and drawn, barely picking at the food. Soon the tension become overwhelming, so James excused himself and gestured to Sirius and Remus to follow him.</p><p>They went into Sirius and Remus’s room and James shut the door behind them.<br/>“Fancy a last-minute practice then, lads?” he said, trying to sound light-hearted, but barely being able to look them in the eye.<br/>Sirius and Remus smiled grimly and nodded. James hadn’t missed the way that they’d clung onto each other all morning, he’d probably been doing the same to Lily and Harry without noticing it. It was going to be a difficult day, so he had to do everything he could to try and lift people’s spirits, even if it was only a fraction. Besides, if they were going to die, they might as well die together and doing something faintly ridiculous and stupid. They were the marauders after all.<br/>James transfigured the instruments, “Pete’s going to have a lot of catching up to do when he gets back.”<br/>“Isn’t it a little mean to drag him into this with no warning?” asked Remus.<br/>James shrugged, “he’s been our mate for, like, 9 years now. He should be used to it. Anyway, he’ll love it.”<br/>Remus raised an eyebrow.<br/>“He’ll go along with it,” amended James, “can we practice now?”<br/>Remus sighed, but got into position.</p><p>By the time James was content that the song was perfect, and the other two felt like they would rather face an army than have to sing it through again, it was almost half past eleven. They were all out of breath, but even Remus had to admit that the song was better than he thought it would be (not that his expectations were all that high to begin with).<br/>There was a knock on the door. Sirius went and opened it. Lily was leaning against the doorframe, sobbing, one arm still up from knocking on the door. James shoved Sirius aside, and put his arms around her.<br/>“What’s happened? What’s wrong?” he asked, guiding her onto the bed and trying to keep the rising panic out of his voice.<br/>It took Lily a moment to get herself together, but she managed to choke out, “it- it’s Peter.”<br/>“Is he injured?” asked James.<br/>Lily shook her head.<br/>Sirius went as white as a sheet, “he’s not… dead?” he barely managed to whisper.<br/>Lily shook her head again, “You Know Who’s army has assembled beyond the defences and Peter’s standing with them.”<br/>There was silence. James had his mouth open, but no words were coming out. Sirius looked like he was about to vomit.  Remus just looked incredibly sad. This was worse than it would be if they found out he was dead. Never in their wildest dreams could any of them even have conceived that he would do something like that to them. Not after all they’d been through together.<br/>Finally, James found his voice, “but how? We’re his mates… You don’t- you don’t just betray your mates like that… We were supposed to always be there for each other…” he finished quietly, ignoring the tears that were streaking down his face.<br/>“I am going to kill that filthy little traitor,” said Sirius with quiet venom.<br/>Remus put a hand on Sirius’s shoulder, “don’t say that. You know that Pete’s always been a follower. I guess he didn’t see a way out fighting with us.”<br/>“Then he should have died, like the rest of us are willing to do,” spat Sirius, shaking with barely controlled temper.<br/>“You know Peter’s never had the same bravery as you.”<br/>“So you’re just going to forgive him?” asked James softly, but his voice was full of accusation.<br/>“No. What he’s done is unforgivable. All I’m saying is he’s easily manipulated.”<br/>They stood in silence for a while, trying to comprehend the enormity of what had just happened.<br/>Eventually, Lily spoke, “I guess you won’t be singing your song now. Peter must have been the one who told them where we were. Nobody else would have had the opportunity.”<br/>James shook his head, brushing away his tears with the back of his hand, “if anything, now we have more reason to sing it. We can do it with three people, and we have to show them that this isn’t going to affect us or make us weak.”<br/>Remus reluctantly nodded in agreement, “James has a point, although, regardless I still think this is a bad idea,” he turned to Lily, “can you and the others keep the defences up for a few minutes while we sing? I don’t think that You Know Who will be particularly keen to let us finish and I don’t want to put anyone’s life in danger for a whim.”<br/>Lily nodded, “between all of us, we should be able to,” she stood up, “I’ll go and tell them the plan. Can you be outside in 10 minutes?”<br/>They nodded. She gave James a kiss and looked at him for just a moment too long, as if she was wondering if it would be the last time.</p><p>10 minutes later, James stood up.<br/>“We’d better get going, lads,” he said, with a, rather pathetic, attempt at a grin.<br/>The other two stood up and followed him out the door, not even trying to look anything other than miserable.<br/>They walked out the front door and were confronted with the seemingly endless army, stretching off into the distance.<br/>Remus scanned the crowd, easily spotting Peter on the outskirts. He felt Moony howl in confusion. Why was one of his pack with the enemy? Remus closed his eyes, trying to get himself under control. It didn’t help that they were only three days from the full moon, and Moony wasn’t exactly going down without a fight. It took all of Remus’s immense willpower to keep from charging across the field towards Peter. Instead, he forced himself to follow Sirius, focusing on the hair carefully pulled into a bun. His eyes were also drawn towards Peter.<br/>James transfigured all of the instruments without a word and they set them up, taking their places.<br/>James stood in front of the central microphone and started to speak. Remus watched his face completely transform from despair to an animated smile, as though the instruments weren’t the only thing he’d transfigured.<br/>“Good morning Death Eaters!” he yelled, as if it was a concert, “to thank you for coming all the way out here, we’ve written you a song! And we’ve dedicated it to our dear friend Pete who brought you all here today! This is for you, Wormtail.”<br/>James made a good show of being loud and uncaring, but it was easy for his friends to see the tears in his eyes and hear the way that his voice wavered. Still, it had done the job, and the death eaters were getting visibly angry. There were even a few watery smiles among the Order. James looked at the other two to see if they were ready, he didn’t want his friends to waste their magic holding the defences for any longer than they had to. Remus and Sirius gave him a curt nod. <br/>“One! Two! Three! Four!” yelled James, and the instruments started up.<br/>“”What a poor excuse for an afterschool club. You’ve got cool tattoos but where’s the love at?””<br/>They continued singing, watching as the army before them got increasingly angry, practically clambering over each other to get to the shield, which was still being maintained, but was starting to show some cracks.<br/>Sirius knew that You Know Who was their biggest problem, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Peter, and he knew the other two couldn’t either. Peter was cowering under the stares of his three former best friends, and Remus could almost smell the fear radiating off him, bitter and acrid. It might have just been a trick of the light, but he could have sworn that he saw tears glinting off Peter’s face.<br/>James managed to wrench his eyes away from Peter and glance around him. The song was doing its job. Even though they were struggling to keep the defences up, his friends were smiling and even chuckling slightly at the rabid insanity that one little song had managed to stir up. He looked back at Peter. The smile faded off of his face. Every time he looked at him, he was bombarded with memories. Memories that stretched all the way back to first year when they first met and decided they would be best friends forever. He guessed forever wasn’t as long as he had thought. He sung louder, pouring all of his emotion into the song. He was going to show them that they were not broken, and they would still fight for all they were worth. If he was going to go down, he was sure as hell going to take as many Death Eaters with him as he could.</p><p>They were nearing the end of the song. The Death Eaters were practically foaming at the mouth, and the Order was struggling to keep the shield up, but they were still putting everything into it.</p><p>They finished the song as loudly as they could, and, almost immediately, the shield broke down and the Death Eaters came swarming towards them. They hardly had time to take a breath before they were in the midst of battle.<br/>Sirius quickly glanced over at Remus while he was fighting and was relieved to note that he was still very much alive and shouting obscenities in the face of the Death Eater he was fighting. Sirius would have laughed if he hadn’t been so preoccupied fighting his own Death Eater.<br/>James stayed as close to Lily as he could, always keeping one eye on her, which, in retrospect, was probably why he was always the one who was injured after a battle. He caught sight of Peter, still cowering at the edge of the battlefield. You Know Who must have brought him just to unnerve them if he wasn’t even going to fight. James redoubled his efforts. He’d already lost one friend today, he was determined not to lose any more.</p>
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